Upgrd Podcast 17: Not Necessarily The News

I flew on the inaugural ORD-LAX flight of the new AA 737-800. My thoughts are here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/11583027-post61.html.

Hey J,

I saw your post after we recorded. Did you know you were going to be on the new 737 or was it just luck? Do you know what other routes they are currently used on?

Hopefully we can get you scheduled to join us soon to tell us more about it.

Mike

It was a little bit of both. Wy wife and I flew that day because that was the convenient day for us to fly. Later when I found out about the 738 launch, I did what I could to get on the flight. It was kind of an adventure... There was lots of speculation several days before about whether the plane was the old 738 model or the new one, but then when we were able to get seat maps on ExpertFlyer, it was clear (based on where the exit rows are... the new plans have them one row further back) that we were on the new one. Can't wait to be your guest!

Also... Eilat is on the Red Sea. (My frequent flyer adventures actually started when I was living in Israel. I'd be glad to share tips.)

Re: UA upgrade discussion. I think another consideration when evaluating different upgrade programs at airlines should be how companion upgrades are handled. Because NW allows comp upgrades to +1 as well, this has to be an advantage if you travel with +1 frequently. As a UA 1K, I always run out of upgrade instruments and have to use miles because on several trips I've had to upgrade my gf as well.